1. style and fashion

TWO’S
COMPANY
POPSUGAR AND ITS
SHOPSTYLE SITE ARE DRIVING
MORE THAN $1 BILLION
IN REVENUES FOR
FASHION BRANDS. PAGE 7
WWD
TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 ■ $3.00 ■ WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY
Buckle
Up
COLLECTIONS
TOKYO
FALL 2015
With this bold,
texture-rich look
for fall, Facetasm designer
Hiromichi Ochiai closed out
Tokyo Fashion Week on a high
note. Known for manipulating
textiles into complex clothes,
he paired wide-leg pants in
a trio of pleated fabrics
with a cropped cable-knit
turtleneck and a variation
on a bolero secured by
chic horizontal straps.
For more from Tokyo,
see pages 4 and 5.
GAINING GROUND
’TAILS OF THE SEA
THE EUROPEAN UNION IS SET TO
BECOME MYANMAR’S LARGEST EXPORT
MARKET FOR APPAREL. PAGE 8
THE NEW LAZY POINT BAR IN TRIBECA
AIMS TO BRING A TOUCH OF THE BEACH TO
DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN. PAGE 10
FASHION HOUSE IN PLAY?
Lanvin’s Owner Wang
Could Be Eyeing Sale
By MILES SOCHA
PARIS — Could Lanvin’s majority owner Shaw-Lan
Wang be mulling a sale of the company?
According to market sources, the Taiwanese publishing magnate recently made an informal approach
to a high-powered family in Asia about possibly selling her stake. It is understood no formal talks ensued.
Separately, a number of investment banks, seizing on market speculation about a possible ownership change, have also made unofficial overtures to
some of the usual serial acquirers, believed to include Valentino owner Mayhoola for Investments
SPC, French luxury groups Kering and LVMH Moët
Hennessy Louis Vuitton, and Chinese companies that
have invested in fashion.
No formal sale mandate has been granted and no
due diligence has been conducted, these sources caution, characterizing Wang as a reluctant seller likely
to handpick the best possible suitor.
An additional hurdle to any deal could be the
high valuation Wang is likely to seek for her controlling stake in one of France’s oldest and most revered
fashion houses.
Asked for comment about the latest sale rumors,
Lanvin said, “Madame Wang has received expressions
of interest to acquire Lanvin, as in the past years, but
she didn’t respond.”
The intensely private 73-year-old has in the past
described Lanvin as a long-term investment, having
recruited acclaimed Israeli designer Alber Elbaz in
2001 to rejuvenate the brand and taking a hands-on
approach to its development in Asia.
Yet the executive has been spending less time in
Paris recently, leaving the operational management
to Michèle Huiban, who was named chief executive
officer in 2013. Huiban, who joined Lanvin in 2008,
had been deputy general manager of the company
since 2011. She is a graduate of French business
SEE PAGE 6
Japan’s Designers Gain
From Weakening of Yen
By AMANDA KAISER and KELLY WETHERILLE
PHOTO BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI
TOKYO — Japanese designers coming off of Tokyo
Fashion Week are expected to benefit from the weak
yen at home and abroad with collections that drew
plaudits from domestic and international buyers.
Showcasing a variety of looks including statement
coats, elaborate knitwear, tweed items and tailored pantsuits, designers showing during the six days of Tokyo
Fashion Week offered up plenty of commercially viable
merchandise, buyers said. The weak yen gives the country’s designers an added boost as it makes their goods
cheaper for foreign buyers, while the currency impact
also stands to give them an edge at home with Japanese
retailers since it makes imported goods from Europe and
the United States that much more expensive.
International buyer registrations for the Tokyo
shows grew to 239, compared with 221 in October
and 212 in March 2014. The three largest geographic
regions were China, with 50 registrations, and the
United States and Hong Kong with 38 and 27, respectively, organizers said.
As is the case with every season, registrations may or
may not correspond to actual attendance at the shows.
This was a tricky season for some. A couple Japanese
buyers lamented that Tokyo’s proximity to Paris made it
a challenge to cover both cites thoroughly.
Despite the challenges of the event dates, show
organizers and the government-run Japan External
Trade Organization managed to lure some prominent names to Tokyo with free trips. This season’s
SEE PAGE 6
2 WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015
Now in its 26th edition, ANDAM has added
a prize for accessories design valued at 30,000
euros, or $31,445 at current exchange rates, and
PARIS — Haider Ackermann and Bruno Pavlovsky, increased its First Collections Prize to 90,000
president of Chanel fashion, are among the new ju- euros, or $94,330, from 75,000 euros, or $78,610.
Introduced in 2011, the latter grant goes to a
rors for the 2015 ANDAM award.
The 29-member jury is to reveal finalists on May young French company, along with coaching and
18, with deliberations and the announcement of an exclusive space at Galeries Lafayette’s flagship in Paris.
winners scheduled for July 3.
The grand prize delivers an endowment of
Other new members of the jury include: Floriane
de Saint Pierre, who runs a namesake recruit- 250,000 euros, or $262,025, and is open to designers of any nationment and consultality willing to
ing firm in Paris;
establish a busiBruce Pask, men’s
ness in France.
fashion director at
The winner also
Bergdorf Goodman;
receives guidance
Olivia Kim, direcon matters includtor of creative projing financial, legal,
ects at Nordstrom;
marketing, commuFr a n ç o i s e - M a r i e
nications and proSantucci, editor
duction. Pavlovsky
in chief of French
is to mentor the
Elle; Laurent Vallet,
victor over a twochief executive ofyear period.
ficer of L’IFCIC,
Dutch designer
which funds cinema
Iris van Herpen,
and other cultural
who catapulted
industries;
and
3-D printing to
Lyne Cohen-Solal,
the fashion forecharged with creatfront with her
ing a report on the
Haider Ackermann and Bruno Pavlovsky
sculptural dressfashion industry
es, was the 2014
for the Ministry of
Culture and Communication and the Ministry of ANDAM victor, and is receiving creative and
strategic advice from Pinault, the 2014 mentor.
Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs.
The French acronym for the National
Returning for jury duty are numerous highpowered executives, including Yves Saint Laurent Association for the Development of the Fashion
foundation boss Pierre Bergé, Kering’s François- Arts, ANDAM was founded in 1989 by Nathalie
Henri Pinault, LVMH Fashion Group’s Pierre-Yves Dufour, with the support of the French government
Roussel, OTB boss Renzo Rosso, Estée Lauder Cos. and with Bergé as president.
ANDAM has been a springboard for an array of
Inc.’s John Demsey, Puig fashion division’s Ralph
Toledano and Saint Laurent’s Francesca Bellettini designers who would go on to achieve international
— along with a number of editors, government of- recognition, including Martin Margiela, Viktor &
Rolf, Christophe Lemaire and Jeremy Scott.
ficials and assorted fashion figures.
By MILES SOCHA
Permira Looks for Next Investment
Many of the possibilities are companies with a
By EVAN CLARK
European business that might have a store in New
York or sell to a few department stores, but have yet
PERMIRA’S ON THE prowl in fashion and using its to really expand in the U.S.
“We’re focused in on ‘A’ malls, premier locaexperience at Hugo Boss as a calling card.
The private equity firm picked up Boss as part tions in the United States,” Coyle said. “So we want
of its 2007 purchase of Valentino Group, ultimate- somebody playing in that market and the equivaly investing a combined 1.1 billion euros, or $1.2 lent of that online and in catalogue.
“There are different levels of fashion,” he said.
billion at current exchange, in the companies.
Valentino was sold off five years later and the in- “The very highest levels, haute couture, that’s a hard
vestment in Boss was finally unwound last week. All place to play sometimes because it’s as much about
told, Permira turned its investment into 2.5 billion art as it is about commerce. One step down from there,
euros, netting a profit of 1.4 billion euros, or $1.51 there’s this nice intersection of beauty and art and capitalism and we’ve done well in those situations.”
billion a current exchange.
Permira’s willing to pay up to play in fashion.
Now the international investment house wants
“In most scenarios, you’re going to pay a double-digto repeat that trick and is looking at companies valued at as little as $200 million and as much as $2 it EBITDA multiple,” he said. “The closer to 10 [times]
billion and more. The firm is working off a fund of the better. For the right situation, we’re not shy about
paying what’s required.”
5 billion euros, or $5.41 billion,
He said the investment firm
and at the upper end could
is careful to not load too much
put about 500 million euros, or
debt
onto a company while ex$541 million, to work on a fashpecting big growth.
ion company.
When a private equity inMultiple sources said the investment in fashion flops, typivestor was working hard to buy
cally it’s because the investor
shoemaker Stuart Weitzman, but
PROFITS PERMIRA REALIZED
takes too much money out and
ultimately lost out to Coach Inc.
ON ITS VALENTINO INVESTMENT,
leaves the company struggling
The firm also reportedly
INCLUDING BOSS.
to pay off debt instead of focuswas among those chasing a maing on expansion.
jority stake in Roberto Cavalli.
Boss has fared well under
John Coyle, partner and
head of Permira’s New York office, said there are Permira, and since 2007, the company’s earnings more
than doubled while sales grew by nearly 1 billion euros
plenty of targets in fashion.
“Our pipeline’s never been better,” he said. “We to 2.57 billion euros, or $3.42 billion, last year.
Martin Weckwerth, a partner in Permira’s
see a couple of interesting situations at the upper
end of the valuation levels and these are public Frankfurt office, said much of that was owed to
the brand’s switch to a more balanced distribucompanies. We’re busy.”
Permira’s candidates generally fit into two tion. Retail sales have grown from 25 percent of
the total, to 51 percent. Boss’ store fleet grew from
broad categories:
■ Another Boss, or a company with an interna- around 200 to more than 1,000 during the private
tional presence that isn’t performing as well as it equity firm’s tenure.
“Fashion retail today is the presentation of
could and is in the midst of a transition (i.e. converting from a wholesale business model to more looks, it’s the presentation of lifestyle, it’s the presentation of the story behind the product, behind
omnichannel approach).
■ A brand that is “considerably bigger than the the look,” Weckwerth said. “And in order to make
business” that is closely held and needs capital to that true for the customer, you have to basically
control the presentation of the product.”
get onto a bigger stage.
$1.51B
THE BRIEFING BOX
IN TODAY’S WWD
Emily Van Raay is the
subject of Model Call.
For more, see WWD.com.
PHOTO BY WOMEN/360 MANAGEMENT
Jurors Named for ANDAM
WWD.COM
Could Lanvin’s majority owner Shaw-Lan Wang be mulling
a sale of the company? The Taiwanese publishing magnate
reportedly is considering selling her stake. PAGE 1
Japanese designers coming off of Tokyo Fashion Week are
expected to benefit from the weak yen at home and abroad
with collections that drew plaudits from buyers. PAGE 1
PopSugar’s chasing celebrities and sales — and driving
more than a billion dollars in revenues for fashion brands
through its ShopStyle site. PAGE 7
Saban Brands Lifestyle Group has added Australian surf brand
Piping Hot to its portfolio. The transaction, for an undisclosed
amount, is its second acquisition in three months. PAGE 7
The EU could become the largest export market for “Made in
Myanmar” apparel, three years after the group of nations lifted
sanctions against the Southeast Asian country. PAGE 8
Executives attending the AAFA summit in D.C. last week
stressed the importance of intensifying the pressure on
Congress to approve several trade measures this year. PAGE 9
Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper were yucking it up
before the Cinema Society-hosted and Dior-sponsored premiere
of “Serena” at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema. PAGE 10
Saint Laurent is going back to its roots — the Left Bank of
the Seine river, where the Paris fashion house was originally
founded by Yves Saint Laurent in 1961. PAGE 11
At this year’s Coachella, there’s been a turnover among some
of the major fashion companies that have used the three-day
weekend as one long branding showcase. PAGE 11
Fifteen-year-old streetwear e-tailer Karmaloop Inc. on Monday
filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court
protection in Delaware. PAGE 11
ON WWD.COM
MODEL CALL: Emily Van Raay, the 21-year-old model and
certified health coach from a small Southwestern Ontario town,
is more than a pretty face. For more, see WWD.com/eye.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
@ WWD.com/social
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3/23/15 12:18 PM
4 WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015
Tokyo Collections
Fall 2015
Facetasm: Closing Tokyo Fashion
Week, Facetasm delivered a
high-energy show that featured
creative takes on tailoring and
construction. Beneath the glare
of powerful fluorescent lighting,
Hiromichi Ochiai sent out complex
clothes with a heavy emphasis
on fabric manipulation. Ochiai’s
signature techniques can risk
overload at times, but he exercised
a bit more restraint for fall. That
was a good thing.
Large bustles of ruffles jutted
out from pants, skirts and jackets,
creating voluminous silhouettes
with a dramatic runway impact.
They might not be the most
wearable pieces in the world, but
they certainly looked cool. More
approachable offerings included the
colorful outerwear: a roomy poncho
and a motorcycle jacket, both in
bright pink, and a navy peacoat with
origami-like sleeves and punchy
lime-green pockets. The designer
also emphasized outerwear for men,
showing tough leather jackets and
a duffle coat with leather sleeves as
well as an extralong suit jacket à la
David Byrne.
— AMANDA KAISER
Facetasm
Facetasm
Sulvam: This relatively new men’s wear
Factotum: A projected panorama of
a sheep-dotted countryside greeted
Factotum showgoers — setting
the stage for Koji Udo’s fall men’s
wear outing, inspired by Haruki
Murakami’s novel “A Wild Sheep
Chase.” One of the Japanese author’s
breakout works, the story traces the
journey of an unnamed man who
embarks on an adventure to the
northern island of Hokkaido to find a
rare sheep with a star on its body.
Appropriately, shearling opened
the show, used as trim on jeans and
a denim jacket, and later on several
sharp-looking coats and jackets,
giving the collection a modern,
country feel. In a none-too-subtle
nod to Murakami’s book, sweaters
were emblazoned with large stars,
while a few pieces in a striped woven
fabric — including a long top layered
under a vest and an apron worn over
pants — had a shepherd-like vibe.
Other highlights included outdoorsy
field jackets and a cool gray coat
lined in tartan. Despite the theme,
this polished lineup delivered some
sound choices for city-dwellers as
well as their rural counterparts.
— A.K.
Sulvam
Factotum
FOR MORE FALL 2015
COVERAGE, SEE
WWD.com/
runway.
FACETASM PHOTOS BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI; SULVAM BY YUKIE MIYAZAKI; FACTOTUM BY YUKIE MIYAZAKI
label (it was established in 2013) was
one of six selected as winners of the
inaugural Tokyo Fashion Award, which
aims to support brands that have the
“potential to grow in the international
market.” Designer Teppei Fujita,
formerly of Yohji Yamamoto, offered
a collection of suitlike separates and
knitwear. While there was a lot of
repetition in the textiles and styles,
there was also just enough creativity to
keep things interesting.
A thick, pin-striped black wool
fabric was used in easy, elastic-waist
pants, jackets with asymmetric hems
and a variety of coats. Fujita took the
styles beyond basic with little details
such as a single studded sweater
sleeve or a skirtlike panel of fabric
attached to the back of trousers.
A series of shirts in contrasting
patterns and colors — orange and
white stripes with blue windowpane
plaid, for example — added a pop
of color to the largely black and
gray collection. And asymmetric,
cable-knit pullovers showed added
dimension when layered under
similarly knit zippered sweater
corsets.
— KELLY WETHERILLE
WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 5
WWD.COM
FOR MORE THEY ARE
WEARING, SEE
WWD.com/
fashion-news.
Shibuya Street Style
THEY ARE WEARING
®
Half the fun of Tokyo Fashion Week happens on the street, where style-obsessed
attendees dress with a creative intensity that could give any other fashion-week crowd
a run for its money. While looks ranged from avant-garde grunge to animé-inspired
kitsch, the overriding aesthetic was individualism — as these photos taken around
the official venue, Shibuya Hikarie, attest. — AMANDA KAISER
PHOTOS BY ONNIE A. KOSKI
PHOTO
6 WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015
Yen Seen Boosting Japanese Designers
{Continued from page one}
batch of invited buyers included
Colette creative director Sarah
Andelman and Excelsior and
Antonia women’s buying director Massimiliano Nardiello. Eric
Jennings, vice president and
fashion director for men’s wear,
home and beauty at Saks Fifth
Avenue, also came to Tokyo.
Japanese buyers, perhaps
those best placed to view the
evolution of local brands over
time, gave positive feedback of
the season.
Kazuyoshi Minamimagoe, senior creative director at Beams,
Discovered
the backs of garments, there was
a newness to the collection.”
Aya Ota, a women’s buyer
for Isetan’s Shinjuku store in
Tokyo, said she liked Written
by Writtenafterwards and John
Lawrence Sullivan. She said she
is planning to visit a lot of presentations this week in Tokyo
and her budget for Japanese
brands has increased for fall.
Ota said other brands on her
radar include Akira Naka,
Akane Utsunomiya, Hyke and
Cleana, which makes only skirts.
Colette’s Andelman said she
liked the overall quality of the
commercial. So I don’t want to
come to Tokyo to see a collection
[that is] too commercial, I know
there is a customer for them, I
know there is a place for them,
but I want something special.”
Nardiello, of Excelsior and
Antonia, said the Japanese
brands he saw on his showroom
visits were impressive. His
stores were not that enthusiastic about the pre-fall and fall
collections coming out of New
York and Europe, which to him
seemed flat with few new ideas,
so he came to Tokyo looking to
enliven his product assortment.
Beautiful
People
Yoshio
Kubo
shows. Her favorites included
Discovered and Yoshio Kubo.
She added that she liked the first
part of the Dresscamp show. The
store already has plans to do a
window with Writtenafterwards
in June or July.
“I know in Japan that for everything — food, design, clothing
— it’s only good quality. I mean,
even if it’s the most simple or the
most weird thing, it will be well
made. But I thought the shows
themselves were very good [in
terms of] production,” Andelman
said. “I didn’t see everything,
because I looked at all the Web
sites before to do my selection.
I looked at all the profiles, and
I felt many were too simple, too
Nardiello viewed about 24
brands on his visit to Tokyo and
placed orders at about half of them
for a total of about 100,000 euros,
or $108,000 at current exchange.
His favorites included Mame, Avie
Yumiko Fukuda and Coohem.
Although buying from Japan has
its challenges, including significant
import tariffs and advance payments, he said it’s worth it.
“I am willing to make this
effort because it changes the
whole image of my buying, it
makes my buying very cool,
fresh [and] international,”
Nardiello said, adding that he
found Japanese brands more
original and less trend-driven
than many others elsewhere.
DISCOVERED PHOTO BY YUKIE MIYAZAKI; ALL OTHERS BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI
Yasutoshi
Ezumi
“Until about five years ago,
there was a boom of international brands [in Japan] and
things by young New York designers were selling very well.
Then after that, brands like
Carven from Paris were popular until about two years ago,
but recently that has tapered
off,” Minamimagoe said. “Part
of it has to do with price and the
weak yen, but [Japanese brands]
are also seen by customers as
being more ‘real.’ Until now,
Tokyo Fashion Week designers have been mostly just doing
things to please themselves, but
said his picks for the season
included Facetasm, Beautiful
People and Mint Designs.
Overall, he said he liked Tokyo
and thought it offered a variety
of different brands.
Minamimagoe said he
expects Beams’ budget for
Japanese brands to increase
this fall. In his view, New York
Fashion Week was lacking this
season, so part of that budget
may be shifted to local brands.
“I think sales of domestic
brands have increased over
the past few years. I think
for the past three or four
years [Japanese] consumers
have been more interested in
Japanese brands,” he said.
now there is a strong consciousness of the market, and I think
they all are trying hard to fit
their own originality into that.”
Akiko Kitaya, a buyer at Sogo
& Seibu Co. Ltd., found a lot of
“easy-to-sell” items this season.
She said she is maintaining her
current budget for Tokyo brands.
“With its carefully selected
natural materials and easy silhouettes, Beautiful People captured current trends very well,”
she said. “Yasutoshi Ezumi’s
architecture-themed collection
was expressed very well in coats
and other outerwear with sharp
lines. I also felt that, because of
the different materials he used
and many different details on
That said, Nardiello was also
forthcoming about a few brands
he didn’t like. He said Adeam,
which staged a Tokyo recap show
of the fall collection it showed in
New York in February, looked
too similar to other things he
had already seen. And he was
less than enthusiastic about
Matohu, which showed a Kyotoinspired collection heavy on metallic fabrications.
“It seemed a bit like an Asian
Giorgio Armani,” he said.
Saks’ Jennings said he found
a “well-rounded” offering of
men’s wear in Tokyo with a good
balance of various influences
including skate/street culture,
classic Americana preppy heritage and British and Italian tailoring traditions.
“There’s really something for
everybody here,” he said, adding
that some of his favorite finds
included Liberum Arbitrium,
03 by Knitt03, Takka and Ones
Stroke. Saks has finished its buying for fall, but Jennings said he
was making contacts and collecting look books to share with the
retailer’s buyers in New York.
But he stressed that it’s hard
for small brands to compete on
the floor with more established
names if they don’t have New
York-based showroom representation or agents to help manage
the business.
“The challenge is finding interesting brands that are ready to
do business with a big company
like Saks,” Jennings said. “I’ve
seen this happen many times.
We fall in love with a unique artisanal brand and without that
support and representation, they
face a lot of challenges.”
Jutta Heidt-Hansel, managing director for Frankfurt boutique Fifty Eights and another
guest of Tokyo Fashion Week organizers, was pleased with her
findings in Tokyo. She viewed
about 30 brands through appointments and placed orders
for two: men’s denim brand
Kuro and women’s knitwear
label Il by Saori Komatsu. She
is taking contacts for another
eight to 10 brands back home
with her. She said she liked the
look of Rivora and Ones Stroke.
“The men’s is better to sell to
Europe, to Germany, than the ladies’ [brands],” she said, explaining that some of the women’s
brands in Tokyo skew too ladylike
and girly for European women.
While sizing is often an issue
when it comes to selling Japanese
brands to European customers,
Heidt-Hansel said this is becoming less of a problem.
“People already know about
this problem and they are working on it. So they try to be flexible,” she said.
{Continued from page one}
school ESSEC and worked
mainly in the media before
joining Lanvin.
According to sources, Wang
has been reluctant to invest
heavily in developing the
French house’s retail network
and brand profile, crimping its
traction in the face of larger and
more robustly funded brands
such as Saint Laurent, Chanel
and Givenchy.
A family trust associated
with the Bartel family acquired
25 percent of Lanvin parent
Arpège SAS in separate transactions in 2009 and 2012, and is
said to hold certain preemptive
rights should Wang wish to explore a sale of any of her shares.
Elbaz is said to also own a
minority stake in Lanvin indirectly via a holding company.
“It’s a very fluid situation.
My guess is something will
happen this year,” said one
source, speaking on condition
of anonymity.
Wang bought Lanvin from
L’Oréal in 2001, and left Elbaz a
free hand to reinvent the business with his soigné cocktail
dresses, chunky costume jewelry, ballerina flats, dressy sneakers and modernist men’s wear.
In 2007, Wang sold Lanvin’s
fragrance and cosmetics business to Inter Parfums SA for
22 million euros, or $32.1 million at average exchange rates
for the period, saying the company needed the funds to develop its ready-to-wear and
accessories businesses.
It is understood Lanvin generates sales of slightly less than
250 million euros, or $262.5
million at current exchange
rates. Last year the brand
marked its 125th anniversary,
with a “Jean Lanvin” retrospective currently on display at the
Palais Galliera — a spillover of
its birthday festivities.
Shaw-Lan Wang
PHOTO BY PASCAL LE SEGRETAIN/GETTY IMAGES
Lanvin Majority Owner Wang Said Considering Sale
WWD Tuesday, March 24, 2015 7
WWD.COM
PopSugar, ShopStyle Help Drive Fashion Sales
evenly split. Half of revenue
comes from a combination of
advertising, sponsored posts
and partnerships on PopSugar,
which worked with 500 brands
last year — Hilton, Fruit Water,
Levi’s and unilever among them
— and the rest comes from a cut
of all sales fueled by ShopStyle.
The company expects revenue from partnerships to increase in the mid-double digits
this year. Last year, a consumer activation with unilever’s
Simple Skincare brand during
the second quarter brought in
more than $1 million, and Fruit
Water sponsored a scripted, 10part series that aired in october.
The team credits this growth
to an evolution from banner to native advertising, which has seen
150 percent growth year over year.
By racHEL STrugaTz
PoPSugar’S cHaSing celebrities and sales — and driving more
than a billion dollars in revenues
for fashion brands through its
ShopStyle site.
The San Francisco-based
company is something of a digital hybrid, chasing clicks with
its PopSugar site and funneling
shoppers to other e-commerce
sites at ShopStyle while working
with brands on both ends.
acquired in 2007, ShopStyle
is both a fashion search engine
and social shopping Web site
with a performance marketing
affiliate model. it drove $1.2
billion in sales for retail partners last year and more than
one billion clicks to these sites.
The site has 10 million products
from more than 1,000 retailers.
While not directly linked
with the company’s celebrityobsessed Web site, they benefit
from one another.
“These are two brands and
two properties serving one audience,” Jen Wong, chief business
officer, told WWd.
While ShopStyle is a very different business from its parent
company, the two definitely have
synergies. For instance, Levi’s
product listed on ShopStyle
drives to levis.com, but the
brand also has partnered with
PopSugar in various ways, from
traditional advertising to a
video series featuring the site’s
editors in Levi’s jeans and a
program that had influencers
interacting with the brand.
PopSugar was founded almost nine years ago by Lisa
An article on PopSugar’s Web site highlights festival fashions.
Sugar and has turned into a
celebrity hub, an anti-TMz
with sections devoted to fashion, fitness and beauty. Sugar
described the site’s content as
“fun, friendly and relatable.” a
recent post asked readers, “are
You ansel Elgort’s Soul Mate?”
and supplied a test to find out.
Even if the site’s “don’t hate
on my happy” motto might
prompt an eye roll or two from its
snarkier competitors, PopSugar
is pulling in plenty of page views.
The site commands 600 million
monthly page views and 3.3 million daily visits. Traffic increased
55 percent last year. Sixty percent
of the site’s traffic comes from the
combination of a mobile Web site
and the PopSugar app.
Popsugar.com has 65 editors
who post from four to 10 stories a
day. all told, the group publishes
200 to 300 pieces of original content daily, which includes about
10 videos spanning food, fashion,
entertainment, fitness and beauty. The brand formerly operated
each different vertical as its own
site — Fabsugar.com for fashion
or Fitsugar.com for fitness — but
consolidated the dozen sites over
the past 18 months to build a unified brand that exists under the
Popsugar.com domain.
Sources estimate the combined businesses drove revenues of about $120 million
last year. Executives from the
company declined to break out
sales numbers for PopSugar
and ShopStyle, but contend
that the businesses are pretty
ShopStyle drove $1.2 billion in sales
for retail partners last year and more
than one billion clicks to these sites.
When PopSugar began to shift
towards the sponsored post route,
the brands were producing the
content. This has changed and
PopSugar’s editorial team is now
responsible for the creation of all
native advertising content. Video
is also a significant growth engine
for revenue — and all video is
produced in-house. of the 10 videos posted per day, close to half
are sponsored.
“Video and native are growing a lot faster than display,”
Saban Acquires Surfwear Brand Piping Hot
By Vicki M. Young
growing portfolio. Elie is an avid surfer, and i’m in love with the country.
We’re looking at brands in every country that we think can be grown and can
flourish outside of their home base. as
long as we think a brand has authenticity and a passionate consumer following, and we think the rest of the
world can benefit from it, we will look
to add it to our portfolio,” castle said.
as for moving the creative base
to australia, castle said that was es-
Saban brandS Lifestyle group has
added australian surf brand Piping
Hot to its portfolio.
The transaction, for an undisclosed
amount, represents its second acquisition in three months. and while Piping
Hot is the second acquisition this year
that’s also based in australia — the
first was the skate- and surf-inspired
brand Mambo in January — the
two deals also have helped solidify the new creative hub for
SbLg that will be located in
australia. The corporate headquarters of the lifestyle group
remain based in new York.
daniel castle, managing
director of strategic business
development at Saban brands,
said, “The creative hub for all
of the brands under Saban’s
Lifestyle group’s umbrella will
be in Sydney and Melbourne.
That team will work with the
u.S.-based team. So far we’ve
added 25 percent more staff to
both our australia operations
and the company is putting
more marketing dollars there,
Surfwear from the Piping Hot collection.
investing in the business.”
castle said the acquisition of a sec- sentially a no-brainer: “We wanted to
ond australian brand was a coinci- showcase what that country can offer
dence, driven by the interests of him- around the world. designers around
self and that of Elie dekel, president the world are already routinely visitof Saban brands, who also heads up ing australia to find out what the next
Saban brands Entertainment group, trends are, from color to silhouettes
and to see the aesthetic. Saban is no
which is based in Los angeles.
“We’re not targeting australian different. We were traveling there for
brands, but we just happen to find two inspiration for Paul Frank and Power
that we felt would be perfect for our rangers. now we have an office there
said anna Fieler, PopSugar’s
executive vice president of marketing. “[Video and native is]
one third of our business and
growing to half. We don’t know
if it will happen within the year,
but it’s a goal of ours.”
another source of revenue
for PopSugar, albeit smaller
than the company’s two main
money drivers, are its monthly
Must Have boxes. Each box is
$40 per month — considerably
more expensive than other subscription box services — but
tens of thousands of subscribers
have signed up. rather than focusing one vertical, PopSugar’s
boxes contain product that
spans food, fashion, beauty, fitness and home. next month, a
special-edition Must Have box
will launch, created in part-
with all these talented people who will
share their authentic vision for the
SbLg brands.”
castle believes australia’s weather
is one reason why the continent is a
destination for the creative industry.
“australia is about being outside and experiencing nature and water. That spurs
creativity and the elements are providing a lot of inspiration for design talent.
another reason is that they are at least
six months ahead of us. When we are designing winter, they are already
working on summer.”
Piping Hot was established
in 1975 in Torquay, on Victoria’s
surf coast. For the past 18
years, the brand has had an
exclusive retail partnership
with Target australia, which
has helped expand product
categories beyond surfboards
to include swimwear, footwear,
beach towels and headwear, to
name a few.
although Mark Johannsen,
the former managing director
of Piping Hot, is taking a step
back from heading up the operation, he and his children
still will be involved with the
company, working with Saban
in different capacities.
castle said Saban has already started
to invest in and work on the design direction of the brand, as well as putting
together a strategy for marketing and
expansion overseas. “We have the trademark registered in every country…[and]
are investing a lot more money into the
brand. over the next 12 to 24 months,
you will begin to see Piping Hot in other
countries,” he said.
nership with the council of
Fashion designers of america.
Several special-edition boxes
are released per year, in addition to the monthly subscription
ones, that retail for more than
the standard $40 (a box created
with neiman Marcus last year
retailed for $250 and sold out
on Popsugar.com). developed
by Sugar and cFda members,
50 percent of the proceeds from
the $195 boxes will go to benefit
the cFda.
$15M Stock Package
Bulk of Ellison’s Pay
By arnoLd J. karr
MarVin ELLiSon, president and chief executive officer-designee of J.c. Penney co.
inc., received stock awards valued at $15 million for signing on with the Plano, Tex.-based
midtier retailer, making up the bulk of his
$19.6 million pay package.
according to the definitive proxy released
to the Securities and Exchange commission
Monday, the awards vest in three equal parts
beginning on nov. 17, just after his one-year
anniversary with the retailer, and on the
same date in 2016 and 2017.
Ellison also received a prorated portion
of his $1.3 million annual salary, or $325,000,
and a $4.14 million sign-on bonus, as reported
soon after he was named to the post on nov. 1.
Ellison, who will succeed Myron “Mike”
ullman 3rd as ceo on aug. 1, also received
other payments of $142,000, including legal expenses of $25,000 to cover negotiations for his
offer letter; relocation benefits of about $17,000,
and just over $100,000 to cover personal use of
the company aircraft. He and ullman are required to use the company aircraft for both
professional and personal travel as part of
Penney’s key associate protection program.
The stock awards were reported at grant
date fair market value, although the amounts
ultimately received could vary based on fluctuating stock prices and other factors.
ullman’s total pay was $9.7 million, including $1.5 million in salary, nearly $4.9 million in
stock and option awards, $1.6 million in his cash
bonus and $1.7 million in other compensation.
Like ullman, Ellison, who joined Penney’s
from The Home depot inc. and earlier
worked for Target corp., will work without an
employment contract.
8
WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015
SOURCING HORIZONS
Myanmar Production Comes in From the Cold
Manufacturing at Maple Trading Co.
Myanmar went into manufacturing, up from 5 percent from
1990 until January 2013, according to the Organization for
Economic Co-operation and
Development. Domestic investment in manufacturing over
the same period jumped to 28
percent from 24 percent.
Aung Naing Oo, director general at the Myanmar Investment
Commission, said the government
was taking steps to promote the
apparel manufacturing industry.
“We have streamlined the
procedure [for investment] in
this particular sector for easier
access, and training programs
are in progress to produce
skilled labor in this sector in
collaboration with the Garment
Producers Association and
concerned ministries such
as Ministry of Industry and
Ministry of Labor,” he said.
Major European companies sourcing from Myanmar
include Sweden’s Hennes &
Mauritz, which works with
three factories and one processing facility, and has an
office in Yangon. In early
January, German sportswear
manufacturer Adidas said one
of its suppliers had begun pro-
Myanmar since the easing of
sanctions in 2012. Most notably,
Gap Inc. began producing for its
Banana Republic and Old Navy
chains in June through two
South Korean-owned factories.
Win Ei Khine, executive director of apparel manufacturer
Maple Trading Co. and a central executive committee member of the MGMA, said officials
from companies such as WalMart Stores Inc. and Columbia
Sportswear Co. had visited
Myanmar last year, but no orders have been placed. A chief
concern for foreign firms, she
said, remains labor standards,
particularly the use of child
workers in many factories, an
issue she said her company itself had faced.
“We discussed a lot about it
with customers and major stakeholders last year,” Win Ei Khine
said. “We all know that child
labor is a major issue for the EU
and Western markets.”
Under Myanmar law, minimum working age varies across
’’
THE EUROPEAN UNION is
poised to become the largest
export market for “Made in
Myanmar” apparel this year,
three years after the group of nations lifted economic and trade
sanctions against the Southeast
Asian country.
The surge in exports to
the EU and overall growth in
the sector comes despite continued concerns over labor
conditions and a lack of clarity regarding Myanmar’s wage
regulations that have resulted
in a spate of strikes at factories
around Yangon, the country’s
largest city.
Apparel export revenue
for 2014 reached an estimated $1.5 billion, up about $300
million from 2013, according to the Myanmar Garment
Manufacturers Association.
The MGMA said an average
of one factory a week opened
over the course of 2014.
Apparel exports to the EU
showed particularly strong
growth in 2014, with about $400
million worth of goods reaching the market, more than doubling 2013 shipments.
Around a dozen factories in
Myanmar now produce primarily for the EU. Japan and South
Korea, the two biggest export
markets for Myanmar-made garments, are forecast to be surpassed this year by the EU, the
MGMA said.
The growth in the sector
is part of a larger trend since
reformist Thein Sein became
president in 2011, which has
resulted in foreign and domestic investment shifting from
power and natural resources
to the wider manufacturing
sector. From February 2013
to January 2014, 42 percent of
foreign direct investment in
PHOTO BY LAUREN DECICCA
By TIM MCLAUGHLIN
ducing footwear at a factory
near Yangon.
Firms have been drawn to
Myanmar for its cheap and
abundant labor force, as wages
rise in countries like neighboring China. U.K.-based risk
analysis firm Verisk Maplecroft
ranked Myanmar as having one
of the lowest labor costs in the
world. The group said Myanmar
was one of the “key sourcing
destinations” replacing Chinese
manufacturers, along with
Bangladesh and Cambodia.
The MGMA puts sewing operator wages at $40 to $200
a month. The reinstatement
of the Generalized System of
Preferences by the EU has also
played a major role in boosting EU interest. In contrast,
apparel exports to the U.S.
have remained “miniscule,”
MGMA said. Exports to the
U.S. climbed to $20 million last
year since a ban was lifted in
2012. In 2002, prior to the leveling of strict sanctions against
Myanmar, apparel exports to the
U.S. accounted for more than 20
percent of the country’s national export revenue.
Few major U.S. brands
have established a presence in
confirmed prior to them beginning work.
Vicky Bowman, director
of the Myanmar Center for
Responsible Business, said the
code of conduct showed the
industry was aware it needed
further development. However,
she cautioned that extensive
due diligence was still required
by investors.
Myanmar’s main draw, its
cheap labor, has also been the
source of recent unrest in the
apparel sector. The government
passed a minimum wage law
in 2013, but it has yet to be put
into effect, as a pay rate has not
been determined. A survey was
launched in late January to determine living costs and conditions of the country’s most vulnerable workers.
Maung Maung, president of
the Federation of Trade Unions
of Myanmar, said the survey had
been completed and collected
data were being collated by the
Ministry of Labor. He declined
to comment on the potential
’’
We all know that child labor is
a major issue for the EU
and Western markets.
— WIN EI KHINE, MAPLE TRADING CO.
sectors, but children as young as
13 are allowed to work up to four
hours a day if they have a certificate of fitness and as adults at
the age of 15. The MGMA drafted
a code of conduct in February to
address this issue, among others,
with the aim of bringing manufacturing practices up to Western
standards. The voluntary code
calls for factory owners to adhere to a minimum working age
of 15 and for workers’ ages to be
minimum-wage levels, saying
speculation at this stage would
be unhelpful to the process.
A series of wage-related
strikes starting in late January
hit five factories at two industrial zones outside Yangon. The
walkouts were the latest labor
disruptions since the country
passed a labor organization law
in 2011 that allows workers to
form some unions and strike if
prior notice is given.
CLASS Brings Sustainability Act to U.S.
By ARTHUR FRIEDMAN
La Lame, Exclusive Suppliers of Stretch Fabrics
STRETCH AND RIGID ALLOVER AND NARROW LACES, PVC LEATHER, SPACERS
POWER MESH, MICROFIBER KNITS, METALLIC TULLE AND LACES, FOIL
GLITTER, FLOCK, EMBOSSING, BURNOUT PRINTS ON: MESH, TRICOT AND VELVETS
NOVELTY ELASTIC TRIM: METALLIC, SHEER RUFFLES, LACE, PRINTS AND RHINESTONES
La Lame, Inc.
NEW YORK — CLASS completed its “World Class Tour” here
this month with two days of presentations at the Italian Trade
Commission offices.
CL ASS,
or
Creativity
Lifestyle and Sustainable
Synergy, is a multiplatform
global network that showcases
fashion, textiles and materials
created using smarter sustainable technology.
Giusy Bettoni, chief executive
officer and cofounder of Milanbased CLASS, said, “The objective is to provide a platform for
inspirational materials that are
fashionable and have a low environmental impact. We work with
companies and fabrics and yarns
that add value by having some
special quality that’s good for
the environment, but still have
the highest degree of fashion because without that, the customers — whether it’s a brand, a retailer or a consumer — won’t be
interested.”
Bettoni said CLASS and the
sector of sustainable materials
have grown and evolved since
the organization was formed in
2007, thanks in large part to technological advancements, such as
machinery that can repurpose
scrap yarns and fabrics. The tour
included similar presentations in
Milan, Copenhagen, London and
Madrid featuring the latest in sustainable fabrics for spring 2016.
Reverso by Lanificio Stelloni
In the area of recycled and repurposed fabrics, Italian brand
Green Fiber has created a range
of yarns, fabrics and knitwear
made from material that has been
upcycled from waste product from
the spinning process. The spring
collection is Ecolabel certified
and comes from wool, cashmere,
mohair and silk yarns found in
Italy’s Biella region. Similarly, the
Reverso group of companies from
Italy’s Prato region features re-engineered wool and cashmere yarn
and fabric remnants.
Bacx by Centro Seta uses
GOTS-certified organic silk and
silk blended with New Life recycled polyester for jersey fabric
and silk blended with Greenfiber
insulation for outerwear.
Among a group representing
organic and natural material
makers were Lanificio Zignone’s
selection of GOTS-certified organic wool fabrics and Swiss
company Hausammann & Moos’
organic cotton knits and wovens
that are certified by GOTS and
Oeko-Tex Standard, which signifies transparent and responsible
production methods. Also in this
area was Japan’s Shinnaigai
Textile, which has a collection
of organic cotton and Tencel in
mélange dyes created from natural materials such as flowers,
fruits and tea leaves.
There were also fabrics made
from biopolymers such as Ingeo,
as well as milk protein, soy, seaweed, regenerated cellulosics and
Crabyon’s crab’s carapace fiber.
“Step by step, sustainable materials are becoming part of the
supply chain,” Bettoni added.
WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 9
WWD.COM
Shifts in Global Trade Talk of AAFA Summit
Eric Wiseman
PHOTOS BY JONAH KOCH
WASHINGTON — In a climate of high expectations for an Asia-Pacific trade deal
this year, fashion executives are calibrating their sourcing strategies to take
advantage of new market-opening opportunities, while still investing in new
production in the Western Hemisphere.
Executives attending the American
Apparel & Footwear Association’s summit here last week stressed the importance of intensifying the pressure on
Congress to approve several trade measures this year that will have a major
impact on their sourcing strategies. The
industry has a big stake in the TransPacific Partnership agreement, being
negotiated between the U.S. and 11
other countries, particularly because
it includes Vietnam, the second-largest
supplier of apparel to the U.S.
Tom Glaser, vice president and president of global supply chain at VF Corp.,
said in an interview that TPP could have
a big impact on sourcing, depending on
production to the Western Hemisphere,
how it is structured and implemented.
“It has a potential to impact our trade although it has a diversified sourcing
on what we do around [production in base, producing jeans, for example, in
the countries of the North American Egypt, Mexico and Asia.
“If there has been a shift in the last 24
and Central American Free Trade
Agreements],” Glaser said. “We want to months, I would say that shift has been
make sure that is managed well. It also towards this hemisphere,” Wiseman
has potential in businesses where we said. “I didn’t say into this country, alsource a significant amount. Vietnam has though we do produce some of our goods
in this country, but by definition, what
the potential to be a big benefit.”
Glaser also noted that although China we do is not a big percentage of our prorepresents the largest amount of sourc- duction. It’s about 5 percent in the U.S.,
ing for VF, with 21 percent of sourced which is about 25 million units, so it’s
and owned production, the paradigm not a small number.”
Wiseman said the company’s shift
has shifted.
“The growth for certain businesses from Asia to the Western Hemisphere
is tending to grow in other locations will be a “couple of percentage
because of the expense structure,” points,” adding “most of what we own
Glaser said. “We’re not necessarily see- is in this hemisphere.”
VF’s Western Hemisphere producing absolute reductions, but we are not
seeing the same level of growth we saw tion represents about 37 percent of
overall output. Glaser of VF said the
there before.”
He said VF is making goods in the company plans to expand a plant in the
Dominican Republic and Vietnam and Dominican Republic it acquired through
the acquisition of Timberland by “milselling them in China.
“I think the whole notion of China for lions of units” and triple production
in the next five to six
the U.S. trade is an old
years.
paradigm,” Glaser said.
He also said VF
“It’s a very different
has
shif ted
some
world today.”
North Face business
Rick Helfenbein, who
to Honduras and El
was reappointed chairSalvador from Asia.
man of the AAFA for a
“So, there is a shift
second year and who is
back from production
also president of Luen
that is generally made
Thai USA, said, “The big
in Asia to this hemibattle is really between
sphere and we are
how much China will
making it in our own
erode and how much
plants,” Glaser added.
Vietnam will grow.”
Juanita
Duggan,
Helfenbein said
president and ceo of
the remaining top
AAFA, said there is
five
countries
—
momentum behind the
Indonesia, Bangladesh
Made in America moveand Honduras — are
ment.
expected to stay the
“There are numbers
same. He noted that
pointing to growth,
textile mills are alshowing that people
ready staging themare committed to it,”
selves in Vietnam to get
said Duggan, pointing
ready for TPP.
to her association’s
“This isn’t a shortown latest statistics
term thing for them
that show a 6.2 percent
because they believe
Juanita Duggan and Bill Dillard 3rd
increase in U.S. apVietnam will be successful with or without TPP, so they are will- parel production in 2013, marking the
third year in a row of growth, as well
ing to make the investment,” he said.
Luen Thai plans to continue to grow as an 8.5 percent increase in U.S. footits business in the Philippines and is wear production.
Bill Dillard 3rd, vice president
also “stable” now in China, Cambodia,
of Dillard’s Inc., who gave a keynote
Vietnam and Indonesia, he said.
The Western Hemisphere is also ex- speech at the AAFA conference on the
pected to see more growth in production history and rise of his family’s business,
said in an interview on the sidelines that
this year.
Eric Wiseman, chairman, president the company strongly supports Made in
and chief executive officer at VF Corp. the USA and recently started up with a
said in an interview with WWD that the new brand of jewelry made by Texascompany — the maker of brands such as based James Avery Jewelry, which operThe North Face, Vans, Timberland and ates five manufacturing plants in Texas.
“People definitely feel good about
Wrangler — has made a definite shift in
’’
By KRISTI ELLIS
buying stuff that is made here,” Dillard
said. “Again, they are not paying you
double for it, but it has a good promotional connotation.
“The issue is you can’t find the stuff
made here; it’s not an issue of wanting to
[sell it],” he added. “You can’t find suits or
dress shirts here. We love it when we can
do it, but it is easier said than done. We
don’t have the clout of a Wal-Mart to force
the issue on the industry. We can’t buy
enough to go, ‘OK, you go buy a bunch and
set up a factory’…We don’t have quite a
big position or leverage in that. I do think
customers like it. I hear them talk about
it. They do respond when they can do it.”
Duggan said AAFA’s mission is to
give its members the “flexibility” to
make it here or abroad. To that end,
AAFA plans to press lawmakers to approve several smaller measures that
have expired or will expire this year,
including a preferential trade program
for apparel with Nicaragua that expired in January, the African Growth
and Opportunity Act set to expire
Sept. 30 and the Generalized System of
Preferences that expired in July 2013.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee,
who laid out his agenda at the summit,
said he is trying to get a presidential
Trade Promotion Authority bill through
committee and to the Senate floor in
April. TPA is seen as vital to completing several trade deals because with
it, Congress can only vote up or down
on a trade agreement, which gives the
administration leverage with trading
partners. But he said it will be an uphill battle, pointing to opposition from
Democrats. Hatch also said he has other
priorities, including extension of AGOA
and renewal of GSP.
“The Obama administration is currently negotiating some of the most
ambitious trade agreements in our
nation’s history,” Hatch said, pointing to the TPP and the Transatlantic
Trade and Investment Partnership between the U.S. and European Union.
“Together, these two trade agreements
cover more than 60 percent of global
trade and have the potential to dra-
I think the whole
notion of China for
the U.S. trade is an old
paradigm. It’s a very
different world today.
’’
— TOM GLASER, VF CORP.
matically change the world economic
landscape…but without TPA, I’m afraid
neither of these agreements will ever
reach the finish line.”
“We are very supportive of TPA,
while also not letting the smaller trade
bills lag if TPA doesn’t make it across
the finish line,” Duggan said. “What I
hear from [Hatch] is that these smaller
bills are costing people money and we
can’t let TPA hold them hostage. I have
full confidence he is going to make a
go of it.”
July 21−23, 2015
Javits Convention Center
New York, NY
10 WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015
Surf on Turf
“I feel like most of the young people now
eat and drink in Brooklyn — there’s not
that really young crowd that’s going out
five nights a week in Manhattan anymore,”
says LaGarenne. “Nightclubs in general
are dwindling. People don’t want to come
out after their workweek and be hassled
by a doorman or the bottle service thing
which is kind of passé. We wanted to close
[The Anchor] on our own terms before we
got to that point, and build the place we
wanted to build instead.”
The bar’s entrance.
A selection of cocktails: Beets by Dre, Bramble Rose, The Volstead and Underhill’s Tab.
Vintage scuba gear lining the back bar.
Jason
LaGarenne
that, and we wanted to get away from the
self-seriousness of it all.”
The food also takes its cues from simple
coastal fare, though it’s certainly more
elevated than your average beach bar food.
Fried oysters are served with whipped
potato chip mousse and black truffle
marmalade and the grilled cheese includes
white truffle honey mustard and kimchi.
The raw bar features signature proprietary
oysters crossbred by a “mad scientist,
seafaring man” in Napeague Bay. “It’s a
high-minded take on stuff you would find
at a beach bar, but still enough to sustain
you while you’re hopefully drinking many
cocktails,” says LaGarenne.
Which is to say that even though
Lohan isn’t likely to stop by any time
soon, that doesn’t mean the general
revelry will fall by the wayside. Like at
The Anchor closed on Labor Day,
and LaGarenne, along with co-owner
Gunther Bilali, head mixologist Jeremy
Strawn, and 19-year-old chef (and
former “Chopped” competitor) Greg
Grossman, soft opened Lazy Point
during New York Fashion Week with
an after party for Proenza Schouler. Its
official opening is on Thursday, when
Strawn will start serving drinks like the
Pistachio Mule and the Beets by Dre,
made with gin, fresh beets, rosemary
and lime. “We wanted to have cocktails
that are interesting and complex but at
the same time, there’s not 30 ingredients
in them,” says LaGarenne. “As someone
who’s worked in this industry for a
decade, even I go out to those places
and don’t know half the ingredients in
the drinks. There’s a sort of smugness to
Bradley Cooper with
Jennifer Lawrence in
Dior Haute Couture.
PHOTO BY STEVE EICHNER
Brad-Law
The Anchor, DJs will still be spinning on
Friday and Saturday nights, and there’s
plenty of open floor space for impromptu
dance parties. “If you go to a club, you
might have a great time dancing but you
get a terrible drink,” says LaGarenne.
“And if you go to a cocktail place you get
a great drink but you might not be having
as much fun because you can’t stand up.
So we wanted to kind of bridge the gap.”
Most of all for LaGarenne, Lazy Point is
the antithesis to New York’s over-the-top
craft food and cocktail scene. “You’ll find
stuff like a one-table restaurant serving
only food foraged in Red Hook and it’s
built out of reclaimed wheelbarrow parts
from the 18th century,” he quips. “It goes
too far. We wanted to bring it back to just
being about fun and quality drinks.”
— ALLY BETKER
“American Sniper.” But clearly having
Lawrence and Cooper’s names attached
wasn’t enough insurance for “Serena”
— which was adapted from the bestselling Twenties period novel of the
same name — to avoid the pitfall of
“I DIDN’T KNOW what ‘VOD’ was! I
video on demand (the film will have a
thought it was a sort of disease.”
very limited theatrical release as well).
It was Saturday night and Jennifer
“Oh, it’s great,” said Cooper, trying to
Lawrence was doing what she does
cull excitement about the film’s fate
best: the incredulous strain of selfinto his voice.
deprecation that she’s done to charm
Cooper was working on “Silver
the pants off America since she started.
Linings” when the project’s script
She was yucking it up on the red carpet
found its way to Lawrence, who then
of her latest film “Serena,” before its
took on the role of casting
Cinema Society-hosted and
director. “I forced him
Dior-sponsored premiere
to come onto the movie,”
at the Landmark Sunshine
FOR MORE PHOTOS, SEE
Lawrence admitted. “Any
Cinema, answering the
only real question worth
WWD.com/eye. male role is going to
make me think of Bradley
asking: how did this
because, in my opinion, he’s
critically panned, straightthe best. I love working with
to-on-demand bomb of a
him.” Cooper was quick to echo the
movie happen?
sentiment. “I respect her so much as
Everything Lawrence has touched
a professional, as an actor, and I think
— along with costar and repeat onscreen love interest Bradley Cooper — has that she’s the best there is,” he said.
“You always want to work with people
turned to gold (or more accurately,
who are better than you.”
green at the box office): “Silver Linings
Producer Todd Wagner summed it up
Playbook,” “American Hustle,” along
with their recent solo victories,
quite nicely: “Let’s face it, they like to
“The Hunger Games” franchise and
work together.”
— KRISTEN TAUER
PHOTOS BY STEVE EICHNER
“IT’S BASICALLY A small sand spit on
Gardiners Bay,” Jason LaGarenne says
on a recent afternoon. He’s describing
Lazy Point, N.Y., his hometown, a hamlet
between East Hampton and Montauk
on the southern tip of Long Island that
serves as the inspiration for his new
cocktail bar. “It’s very unspoiled in
terms of the nature, very authentic,
which is rather un-Hamptonslike.”
LaGarenne’s new spot, named after
said sand spit, also seems to differ from
its surroundings. Located on the corner
of Spring and Greenwich Streets in
TriBeCa, Lazy Point’s white picnic tables,
surfing photos and vintage scuba gear are
a departure from the sleek multimillion
dollar apartments and cobblestone streets
skirting it. “We wanted to just hint at the
coastal décor and create an overall happy
feeling,” LaGarenne says. “[Lazy Point] is
a very relaxing place, and we wanted to
bring a little of that into the city.”
The concept is a
strategic shift from the
former venue at that
address, The Anchor,
which started its sevenyear run with parties
by Doug Aitken and Bill
Murray and ended with
Lindsay Lohan reportedly
doing cocaine in the
bathroom (and then being
flown directly to rehab).
WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 11
WWD.COM
FASHION SCOOPS Ralph Erardy Memorial Set
limited edition Pandora pieces to be
MAKE A LEFT: Saint Laurent is going
worn with their collections, most of
back to its roots — the Left Bank of the
which will be shoppable right from the
Seine river, where the Paris fashion
runway, will be on hand for meet-andhouse was originally founded by Yves
greets with the invite-only crowd.
Saint Laurent in 1961. Following the
H&M, a six-year sponsor of the
relocation last year of the brand’s
festival, will have a pop-up shop/
couture salons and Parisian ateliers to
experiential tent for its H&M Loves
the Hôtel de Sénecterre, a 17th-century
Coachella collection at the Indio, Calif.,
Parisian town house set at 24 Rue de
fairgrounds, but is skipping a big offl’Université, the company said it was
site bash this year in favor of a more
now planning to transfer its head office
intimate gathering at the Parker on
and showrooms from Avenue George
Friday evening.
V to the Penthémont Cistercian Abbey,
Saturday, April 11, will be a day of
located at 37 Rue de Bellechasse. Dating
dueling fashion events in Palm Springs.
back to 1671, the 9,900-square-foot
The Council of Fashion Designers of
architectural complex has most recently
America will partner with
been used by the Ministry
FOR MORE
PopSugar Inc. and guest
of French Armed Forces.
SCOOPS, SEE
Restoration works, overseen
Mara Hoffman for a brunch to
by Saint Laurent’s artistic
celebrate the April 15 launch
WWD.com.
director Hedi Slimane, are
of its “Must Have Box,” a
collection of items from CFDA
slated to be complete by 2018.
members, of which a portion
Anchoring the house on the
of sales benefit the CFDA Foundation.
Left Bank was driven by the idea of paying
The event is part of the media company
“homage to the French house’s creators,
and its retail portal ShopStyle’s threeYves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, within
day takeover at the Avalon (formerly
the Rue Babylone and Rue Bonaparte
Viceroy) Palm Springs hotel, dubbed
tradition,” the brand said Monday.
— PAULINA SZMYDKE PopSugar + ShopStyle Cabana Club.
Then in the hotel’s Presidio courtyard,
People Stylewatch and Revolve will
COACHELLA’S FASHION PLAYLIST: At this
throw a lunchtime shindig, hosted
year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts
by Nikki Reed, to celebrate its festival
Festival, which starts Weekend One on
April 10, there’s been a turnover among
merchandise. Soho House, as part of
some of the major fashion companies
its Soho Desert House takeover of a
that have used the three-day weekend
private estate, will host a Harper’s
as one long branding showcase. Guess
Bazaar and Coach brunch within the
and Lacoste have exited the scene this
same time frame.
year, while Pandora jewelry is arriving
Rachel Zoe is also planning to attend
at the Parker Palm Springs resort
the festival with her own event, details
with the “Pandora Jewelry Fashion
of which are yet to be revealed, and
Experience,” four runway shows over
fashion will also go higher-end, as Etro
three days featuring Siwy Denim, Plenty plans to make a celebrity dressing
by Tracy Reese, Nanette Lepore and
splash in the desert this year.
Whit. The designers, who are creating
— MARCY MEDINA
A MEMORIAL SERVICE has been
scheduled for Ralph Erardy, former
publisher of WWD.
The memorial will take place at 2
p.m. on April 25 at Our Lady of Mount
Carmel church, 10 County Road,
Tenafly, N.J.
EXPANDING HORIZONS: Fashion public
relations agency Krupp Group is expanding
its services with Krupp Brand Development,
a new wing of the firm to focus on
merchandising and product development,
brokering collaborations, licensing,
endorsement and sponsorship deals and
multimedia development. To head the
new venture, Cindy Krupp hired Cole Wassner,
former senior vice president of advertising
and representation agency DMA United.
Wassner is a mentor for the NYC Economic
Development Corp. —
Fashion Fellows and his
family business is the Hilldun
Corp. The firm plans to work
with its current p.r. clients —
Jennifer Fisher, Kaufman Franco,
Loeffler Randall and Eva Fehren
are already signed on — as
well as outside clients.
— JESSICA IREDALE
NEIMAN’S WRAPS SXSW:
Neiman Marcus fused
fashion and female
empowerment on Friday at the South by
Southwest Festival, ending its three-day
platform with a Rosario Dawson questionand-answer during which the actress
discussed her career trajectory and
women’s rights issues. “This is a very
engaged, interested population,” she told
Erardy died Feb. 27 at the age of 67
after a long battle with cancer. He spent
the better part of two decades with WWD,
the last six as senior vice president and
group publisher of the paper, driving record revenues and profits before leaving
in 2008.
— ARTHUR FRIEDMAN
WWD afterward. “What I’m really loving
is the creativity with which people are
approaching the issues of our time. This
is where you can get that really important
feedback that you might need for your
product or your music or whatever,”
she said, referring to the myriad other
panels doling out tips to musicians and
entrepreneurs, such as the preceding
event with Rebecca Minkoff, MSMR singer
and Neon Records founder Lizzy Plapinger
and Food Network host Katie Lee, who
polled the audience for
dining recommendations.
Rosario
“I’m dying for good
Dawson
barbecue. Where should I
go?” she asked.
Dawson, wearing a
blouse from her Studio
189 line, hopes for more
collaborations with the
retailer. “How amazing
would that be?” she
wondered aloud of
the hope that her line,
which will be in Opening
Ceremony in April, would get picked
up by the department store. Her next
project is the upcoming Netflix series,
“Daredevil,” based on the Marvel comic,
though she joked, “I’m sure there’s a
sniper near here,” as a way to avoid
divulging any plot details. — JENNY SUNDEL
PHOTO BY LEXIE MORELAND
A view of the Penthémont
Cistercian Abbey.
Karmaloop in Chapter 11
By VICKI M. YOUNG
FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD streetwear etailer Karmaloop Inc. on Monday filed a
voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection in Delaware.
The company said it has a $3 million
investment from Comvest Partners, along
with co-lender CapX Partners, to support
the restructuring. The current plan is
for the investment, in the form of debtorin-possession financing, to be converted
into equity upon the company’s exit from
bankruptcy provided there are no better
offers forthcoming in the auction process.
Karmaloop founder and chief executive officer Greg Selkoe said in a
telephone interview, “This really is not
about a problem with the core business.
The [bankruptcy] filing is related to debt
from overexpansion in some areas.”
Selkoe emphasized that the core business continues to do well and “is profitable.” He also admitted to having been
a “little overambitious” on some of the
ventures that didn’t pan out.
According to Selkoe, the company
still has its venture with Xiu.com, although fulfillment is still being done
out of the U.S. instead of out of a warehouse in China, as once was planned.
“The business hasn’t grown into what we
thought it would,” Selkoe said.
As for the court auction of the business, Selkoe said there is interest from a
few potential buyers.
Karmaloop’s Web site will continue
full operations during the bankruptcy,
as will its wholly-owned European Web
site StreetAmmo, its PLNDR division,
the off-price members-only sale section
and its Kazbah division.
The site targets young men and
women between ages 18 to 35.
The company listed total assets between $10 million to $50 million, and
total liabilities between $100 million
to $500 million. The top two unsecured
creditors are Insight Venture Partners
VI and Silicon Valley Bank, with each
one being owed $8 million.
REACH THE
FASHION INDUSTRY’S
TOP TALENT
WWD CAREERS.COM
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Contact Tiffany Windju at 310.484.2537 or twindju@pmc.com
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AMERICA’S COTTON PRODUCERS AND IMPORTERS. Service Marks/Trademarks of Cotton Incorporated. © 2013 Cotton Incorporated.
Source: The Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™ (www.CottonLifestyleMonitor.com)